


all the colours have washed away

by zozo



Category: Star Trek: Discovery
Genre: Gen, Post-Season/Series 02
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-04-21
Updated: 2019-04-21
Packaged: 2020-01-23 10:15:22
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,012
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18547756
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/zozo/pseuds/zozo
Summary: Siobhan Tilly wants answers, and she's going to get them.Massive, massive spoilers for 2x14.





	all the colours have washed away

**Author's Note:**

  * Translation into Русский available: [Когда выцветают все краски](https://archiveofourown.org/works/19929037) by [allayonel](https://archiveofourown.org/users/allayonel/pseuds/allayonel), [ST_Discovery_20XX](https://archiveofourown.org/users/ST_Discovery_20XX/pseuds/ST_Discovery_20XX)



#### Stardate 1124.2 • USS _Enterprise_ • Dry dock, Earth orbit

There was a memorial service on Earth for _Discovery_. “Lost in a conspicuous act of bravery in the course of extraordinary duty,” was the official line. Everything else about the ship, and her loss, has been aggressively classified.

Siobhan Tilly has a special Universal Translator for Starfleet admiral jerk-off speak. “Extraordinary duty” means it was something to do with the black ops shitshow that completely restructured the Federation’s latest security appropriation. “Conspicuous act of bravery” means the surviving _Discovery_ and _Enterprise_ crew members owe their lives to those who went down with the ship.

And “lost”… well, that’s what Siobhan is here to find out.

Normally she’d travel with a small entourage, take a shuttle, arrive in a flurry of paperwork—hell, normally she’d comm ahead—but this is only semi-official business, and the last thing she wants is for Captain Pike to have time to rehearse a story for her.

Her Security Council credentials allow her to transport directly onto the ship, anywhere she likes. She briefly considers materializing right in front of the captain, strike the fear of God into his heart, but she decides not to come out of the gate at full strength.

Instead, she beams into an empty conference room on Deck 3. “Computer,” she says, “Federation Security Council override. Tilly, Siobhan. Epsilon zero niner two six violet, confirm.”

“Confirmed,” says the computer.

“Tell me the location of Captain Christopher Pike.”

“Captain Pike is in his ready room, Deck 1.”

Siobhan nods to herself. Perfect.

* * *

The latest progress reports say that repairs to the saucer section are 58% complete, and on track to have the _Enterprise_ back in service early next year. After his whirlwind tour of duty on _Discovery_ , Pike is almost looking forward to the routine insanity of another five-year mission.

The door to his ready room chimes and he looks up sharply. Who else is even on the ship right now? he wonders. Aloud, he asks, “Computer, who’s at the door?”

There’s a negatory bleep. “That information is classified,” says the computer. _What the hell?_

Pike stands up, smoothing his uniform. “Come in,” he says cautiously.

The door whooshes open to reveal a human woman about his age, wearing a grey Andorian-cut suit with a severe collar. Her short auburn hair is impeccable, and the expression on her face is as cold as duranium.

He arches an eyebrow at her. “Your identity is… classified?”

“Doesn’t feel good, does it, Captain. Wondering.”

Pike goes very still. She looks like a bureaucrat, not an assassin, but despite her icy demeanor, he can feel the anger radiating from her. “Do I need to call security?” he asks, trying to keep his tone casual.

The mysterious woman barks a laugh. “Security. Indeed. Captain Pike, my name is Siobhan Tilly. I’m a member of the Federation Security Council. I have clearance at levels you’ve never even heard of. And you are going to _tell me what happened to my daughter_.”

* * *

Instantly, Pike ages ten years in front of her eyes. Good. “Councilmember—” he starts, but she lifts a finger and his mouth snaps shut.

“I will tell you,” she says, “what I have been told. And then you will tell me the truth.”

 _We’ll cross that bridge,_ Pike’s expression says, but he nods at her to continue.

"My daughter was stationed on the USS _Discovery_. She was an engineering specialist and a command trainee. She was excelling in both.

"When Section 31 was infiltrated by a malignant artificial intelligence, only _Enterprise_ and _Discovery_ were in a position to stop it. The AI was defeated, at the cost of _Discovery_ and much of her crew, including Ensign Sylvia Tilly.

“Now tell me, Captain: Why did I have to dig through eight levels of classification to learn that much? Why was that AI so interested in _Discovery_? Why had most of _Discovery_ ’s crew already evacuated to _Enterprise_ when she ‘suddenly’ exploded? Why wasn’t my daughter among them?”

She stops. She was expecting Pike to be a thick-headed cowboy, mulishly contrary to her perceived interference, cocky and combative. She wanted him to be, wanted to relish tearing strip after strip off of him.

She did not expect, and did not want, to see tears shining in the eyes of the man in front of her.

“Councilmember Tilly,” he says, his voice low. “Your daughter is a hero.” The present tense is not lost on Siobhan. “She saved dozens, hundreds of lives out there. She sacrificed, willingly, to help keep the entire Federation safe.”

Siobhan files away every word for later. “That’s not good enough, Captain.”

Pike sighs. “I know.” He closes his eyes for a moment, then seems to come to a decision. He walks back to his desk and flicks through a holographic stack of files. He selects one, decrypts it, and queues it for playback.

Sylvia’s face springs into life mid-air, and Siobhan suppresses a gasp. She watches the vid with a hand over her mouth, Pike discreetly averting his eyes.

_“…I’ll never know if I made you proud. I hope so. But even if I haven’t, I made myself proud. And I can, um, feel how you respect that. Mom, I can feel it.”_

Siobhan reaches out a hand towards the holographic projection of her daughter as the video ends. She closes her eyes for a long moment.

“Where _is_ she?” she asks softly, almost a whisper.

“There’s no easy way to say this,” replies Pike. “She, and _Discovery_ , are 900 years in the future, guarding something so dangerous it had to be removed from this timeframe completely.”

Conspicuous bravery. Extraordinary duty. Oh, _Sylvia_.

Pike walks over to a small wet bar and pours two drinks. He holds one out to her, and gestures with the other to the couches along the wall of the ready room.

“I didn’t serve with her long,” he says, “but if you have time, I’d love to tell you about your daughter.”

Siobhan accepts the drink. “Thank you, Captain. I’d… I’d like that.”

**Author's Note:**

> Title from ["Mothers"](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7dJltGbbk8c) by Daughter.
> 
> For more feels about Tilly, follow me on Tumblr at [discotreque](https://discotreque.tumblr.com).


End file.
